Shirley Jean Butler

Service of Remembrance for Shirley Jean Butler, 89, of Spearfish, SD, formerly of Faith, SD will be Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. at Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche, SD. Burial will follow at the Black Hills National Cemetery south of Sturgis, SD. Rev. Harold Delbridge will officiate. Visitations will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21 and one hour prior to the Funeral on Thursday morning, all at Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche. Shirley Jean (Vojta) Butler was born January 26, 1925 to James and Mae (Thomas) Vojta at Sioux Falls, SD. The family moved to Mobridge, SD thereafter and later to Faith when Shirley Jean was in the 4th grade. She graduated from Faith High School in 1944. During her high school years she worked at McCormick’s Confectionery. She was united in marriage to Bryce O. Butler at Ft. Pierre, SD on July 20, 1944 and they began their life together on the Butler ranch, southeast of Faith in Ziebach Co. They lived there until building a new home in Faith in 1965, continuing to operate the ranch. They also farmed near Dupree, SD, operated Butler Trucking and the Butler Livestock Yards in Faith. Shirley Jean was supportive of the community through her membership in the Alpha Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, the Faith Alumni Association and the Faith Stock Show and Rodeo Association. Upon retirement, Shirley Jean and Bryce moved to Spearfish, SD where he passed away on August 16, 2005. Shirley Jean passed away at the Spearfish Regional Hospital on Friday, January 16, 2015 with her niece, Dawn Lauderdale at her side. Shirley Jean is survived by her sisters, Loretta (Bill) Artz, Prescott, AZ, Connie Johnson, Elk City, OK and Joanne (Kenneth) Singpiel, Rapid City, SD and several nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her special friends, Wayne and Verla Lang, Rapid City, SD and Garnet Ainsworth, Spearfish, SD. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bryce, her parents, James and Mae Vojta and her brother, Francis Vojta. In lieu of flowers Memorials are preferred to the Special Olympics or the Abbott House. Funeral arrangements are under the guidance of the Faith Area Memorial Chapel of Evanson Jensen Funeral Homes and Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche.